now. we're driving the roads, catching problems as they pop up. this is what it looks like in montgomery county they are measuring the rainfall there in inches. as if dodging flooding isn't enough, this morning there's something else to worry about -- the wind is starting to really pick up, as you see live at union station. good morning and welcome to "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrest. the forecast in a moment. first, danella sealock with the first 4 traffic coming up now. good morning. if you're traveling southbound branch avenue, it's closed between allentown road and kirby because of a downed tree. also seeing problems in northwest. porter street in northwest, connecticut avenue. all your lanes are blocked there. let's shoot up and talk about flooding. games presve road closed beeen 355 and clopper road. this is in gaithersburg. also flooding, muncaster mill at bowie mill road. let's talk about delays.

tracking those southbound on i-270, slow from frederick, normal delays. here's a live look at 109. sluggish here. the trip from germantown all the way to the beltway, guys, nice and clear. back to you. >> thanks. the rain is moving out. temperature are falling, the wind is about to kick up. >> here's storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. right now, we are getting observations in for how much rain fell overnight, and the highest amounts were in montgomery, loudoun county, frederick counties. that's in maryland. and frederick county, virginia, an inch and 1/8. 1.28 in the panhandle into washington county. in the district, about 1.2 inches. prince george's county, an inch and a quarter. south of washington from fairfax county and around dulles down to prince william, they had two inches or a little bit more there. and about an inch and a half or so farther south. a lot of rain in a short amount of time. the highest was 3.3 inches in frederick county. the monocasee river there is going to be running out of its

banks throughout the rest of the day. temperatures are dropping because winds are gustier out of the north and west. a gust of 45 miles per hour in gaithersburg. reagan national had a gust to around 30, 30 to 40, 45 mile-per-hour gusts are going to be common for the next couple of hours. then looks like we'll have higher gust as we get into the afternoon. and the temperatures are dropping to the mid 40s in montgomery county, loudoun county, much of northern virginia including fairfax and arlington. right now in the upper 40s. near 50 in washington. upper 40s now prince george's county. much of southern maryland, right near the bay. temperatures there are in the low 50s. and hour by hour through the morning hours, winds will be blustery, gusting 40 to 50 miles per hour. we'll be holding steady in the 40s. all the way through 10:00. then it's going to be dropping during the afternoon. i'll have the latest on that coming up in ten minutes. aaron? >> thank you, tom. the damage is much different across the south this morning where some are waking up to just utter devastation. the same storm that spawned 13

tornadoes in eight states, the small town of adaresville, georgia, that looks to be the hardest hit now. there was a huge tornado. it tore through town, killed one person, destroyed dozens of homes and a manufacturing plant. coming up in about 15 minutes, we will gets a live update from the area on the damage done there. this morning, some people may be looking for another way to get to work after a chaotic evening commute on metro. an insulator started smoking on the green line and a firefighter cut the wrong line. that left two trains stopped in the tunnel between the anacostia and navy yard stations for hours. riders told news4 they received little direction from metro. some passengers hopped off and tried to walk through the tunnels. once trains got to the navy yard station, riders ended up in long lines waiting for the shuttle buses. metro says it may review procedures with d.c. fire to prevent a similar scene in the future. just getting new information on that chain reaction crash on the beltway. this is breaking news from

yesterday. a prince george's county volunteer firefighter is improving after doctors had to reattach his arm. the fire department says 30-year-old lieutenant ryan emmons is in guarded condition. police say a fire truck from lanham hills was trying to make a u-turn on the beltway when a tractor-trailer rear ended it. a jeep was also involved in the crash. the driver and passenger in the jeep and the driver of the tractor-trailer remain in the hospital. no word on their conditions right now. three firefighters were treated and released. 6:04. today would be the decisive day in determining whether chuck hagel becomes our next defense secretary. he'll answer questions from the senate armed services committee during his confirmation hearing. hagel is a former republican senator. but it's members of his own party who will likely grill him the most. they'll question whether he is a strong enough supporter of israel or tough enough on iran. he's prepared for today's hearing by meeting privately with more than 50 senators and leaders of public interest groups. 6:04. president obama says he wants a comprehensive immigration reform

package this year. in an interview with telemundo, the president says the plan must include a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrant already in the country. he says many congressional leaders already agree on the framework. >> really the issue here is not so much technical as it is political. it's a matter of republicans and democrats coming together and finding a meeting of the minds and then making the case. you know, i'm hopeful that this can get done, and i don't think that it should take many, many months. >> right now the senate and the house are working on separate proposals. right now, police in alabama are working to free a 5-year-old boy from his alleged kidnapper. the boy was taken from his school bus by a gunman who shot and killed the bus driver on tuesday. the shooter is a 63-year-old man who neighbors describe as a ticking time bomb with a strong distrust of government. the boy has now been held captive for 35 hours. authorities are scheduled to

give a press conference sometime this morning. we'll bring you all the latest information as it comes in. staying on top of a developing story in syria. an israeli air strike killed two people, injured five others in syria near the lebanese border. the u.s. says that israel targeted a weapons convoy northwest of damascus. that convoy was thought to contain weapons for hezbollah militants in lebanon. the syrian army, though, says the air strike destroyed a military research center. hezbollah condemns the attack. the u.s. classifies hezbollah as a terrorist group. the role some students from newtown, connecticut, will play in this year's super bowl. a busy nights for rescue workers.

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the really strong wind hasn't even gotten here yet, and already we're getting reports of trees and power lines down. we found this scene on beach drive near porter in the district, about a couple of hours ago. there a tree brought down lines and closed the road in the area. power outage have been dropping steadily throughout the morning. about 1,500 people are still in the dark. this flooding has caused problems with school districts. shenandoah schools are closed and culpeper schools are on a two-hour delay. coming up on 6:11, we'll look at the forecast with tom kierein. >> many of the creeks and streams are out of their banks. at 6:11, a wind advisory covers the district, all of virginia, all of maryland. we could have gusts to 50 miles per hour. so far we've had gusts 30 to 45 miles per hour.

temperatures are dropping bringing in colder air. only 30s in the mountains where they're getting snow now. reagan national anne at 50 degrees -- national's at 50 degrees. prince george's county, mid 40s, montgomery, arlington, fairfax, now mid to upper 40s as is much of northern virginia. now hour by hour today, the temperatures will hold steady in the 40s for another few hours through noontime. then by 4:00, 5:00, it's going to drop to the low 40sment then by midnight, it's going to be all the way down to the low 30s. the winds will be gusting to 50 miles per hour throughout the day today. we are going to have them diminish overnight tonight. they could get gusty again tomorrow. i'm going to have the latest on that, your seven-day outlook coming up in ten minutes. a look now at first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. flooding's causing delays on the rails. if you're taking the vre fredericksburg line, seeing delays train 300 and 302. so far it's a 15-minute delay. to the roads in virginia, still seeing flooding in chantilly, stone heather drive at ladybank lane, all your lanes are blocked

there. getting closer, this time to annandale. seeing closures along woodburn road at spicewood drive. the district dealing with a downed tree along portage in northwest. cleeshs near connecticut avenue -- closures near connecticut avenue and beech drive. back to you. >> thank you. breaking news in bethesda, maryland. chopper 4 over the scene of a house fire in bethesda. you see there sfieft are -- firefighterses are working on the scene.

good morning, from the live desk, breaking news out of bethesda. chopper 4 is on top of the scene here of an early morning house fire that has been put out. you see multiple fire crews putting out the hot spots. this happened in the 7700 block of glenmore springway in bethesda. we have a report that one person was assisted out of the house and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. again, you see multiple firefighters on the scene getting on top of the roof, making sure that the fire is out and all the hot spots are out. nobody else is inside the house. we'll continue to gather information on this and bring you all the updates before the end of the newscast. guys, back to you. >> apparently that's the garage section of the house.

you've got to see this video, as well. a woman and her dog had to be rescued from a cliff in san francisco park. the woman was walking in the park when her dog went over the cliff. she tried to rescue the dog but ended up needing to be rescued herself. a trained rescuer was lowered to rescue the dog. officials say this is actually the second time this week that first respond hers to rescue a person who went over the cliff to rescue a dog. both had non-life-threatening injuries. a prominent democrat is on the defensive this morning. >> new jersey senator robert menendez says he never dealt with prostitutes when he traveled to the dominican republic with a friend and campaign donor. fbi agents raided the ophthalmologist's office after an investigation of health care fraud. menendez says he paid for trips himself and calls allegations that he consorted with prostitutes politically motivated. lawyers for the florida neighborhood watch volunteer

charged with killing trayvon martin want more time and many to prepare his case. george zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense when he shot 17-year-old trayvon martin last february. that case ignited a nationwide debate over race and gun rights. zimmerman's lawyers filed a motion to delay the case from june to november. they also put a request on line asking for public donations. lawyers say zimmerman is broke and needs about $30,000 a month for volunteers and living expense -- attorney fees and living expenses. . a chicago teen who -- a chicago teen who performed at the president's second inauguration was killed by a stray bullet. the president and first lady are offering prayers to the family. the majorette performed in d.c. last week. pendleton was shot and killed tuesday night at a park when a man opened fire on the group. she was shot in the back as she tried to run away. police are still searching for pendleton's killer. today in richmond, a school and campus safety task force will deliver its first recommendations to virginia's general assembly.

governor bob mcdonnell created that panel in december after the newtown, connecticut, shootings. the task force is expected to present recommendations that lawmakers could act on in this session. the panel will issue its final report by june. a similar gun control task force in connecticut is now considering ideas from people directly affected by last month's tragedy in newtown. one by one, people stepped to the microphone and urged lawmakers to take action. it was the panel's first public hearing in newtown since the deadly shooting at sandy hook elementary school. connecticut lawmakers hope to vote on a new gun control package around the end of february. super bowl organizers are planning a special tribute in response to the newtown shootings. the children's chorus from sandy hook elementary will sing "america the beautiful" before sunday's game. the group will feature 26 children representing the 20 first graders and six adults killed last month. 6:18. we are tracking flooding problems throughout the area. megan mcgrath is live in bristow

now. how is it looking where you are? >> reporter: we've got an issue here with the piper lane entrance to the vre station. the broad run vre station here in prince william county. you can see all of the water that's left the banks of the creek next to the roadway here. the creek has left its banks, all of the lanes are covered with water at this point. and it is deep enough that you run the risk of getting stuck. they've closed off the road here. when we first arrived on the scene, we did not have a detour in place. and in fact, cars were coming all the way down in the dark and discovering the high water here. they had to come to a screeching halt and then turn around and make their way back out from where they came. you see now, though, in the last ten minutes a police officer has arrived here the scene. they've got their lights, putting up cones and some signs. they have now at least blocked off piper lane so that you are detoured before you reach the water. so that's an improvement in this situation. of course, for folks who take the broad run vre station, this is a big inconvenience.

piper lane is closed. so what's happening here is that you'll be redirected to goodwyn to wakeman drive and have to go to the station through the observation road entrance. you're not going to be able to enter the station from piper lane because of the high water that we have here. you can see the amount of water and how high the creek is at this point. my guess is it's going to be a while before they reopen. we have been to this location before. we've had flooding situations, and we have seen people get stuck and have to be rescued by the swift water rescue folks. so don't take any chances. obey the detours. reporting live in prince william county, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you in the studio. >> all right. we'll go live to julie martin live in adaresville, georgia, where there was a tornado that passed through. you see the damage there. julie, are you there? >> reporter: i'm here, yeah. the damage is pretty extensive here in north georgia. this little town of adaresville really just suffering and

recovering this morning. you see here this was actually a -- a rental building. some kind of a storage building. there's really no way to tell what it is because there's nothing left of it. look at it. cinder blocks broken in half from the force of this tornado which hasn't been rated yet, by the way. here's a piece of plumbing that was ripped out of the wall. that goes to show how strong this tornado was. now our national weather service assessment team's going to be out here later this morning. they'll give the official designation. but the bottom line is that hundreds of people here are still without homes and businesses, and fortunately most of them -- all of them except for one gentleman is doing okay this morning. there was one fatality as a result of this twister that came through about 11:00 yesterday morning. so right now, it's recovery mode here. there's a dust-to-dawn curfew, a water boil order. and people really trying to get their lives back together. eun?

>> devastating situation indeed. julie martin live for us. thank you. weather and traffic on the 1s. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with your forecast. >> we had a tornado watch for a time last night from the same system. good thing we did not get anything like that. and as we look now on the eastern shore, getting sprinkles lingering from that big, heavy rain that came through overnight. now we're dealing with wind, the latest wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. north and west of washington. around washington, 25, 30 miles per hour gusts. we'll have them continuing to build through the morning. the strong winds out of the north and west are bringing in cold air. 40s, western, northern suburbs. eastern suburbs near 50 degrees. storm team 4 four-day forecast feeling like wintertime. late tonight, into the 30s. 20s tomorrow morning. friday, flurries in the morning, 30s in the afternoon. it will feel like winter over the weekend, too. could get flurries late on saturday into sunday morning. and remaining cold monday. a bit warmer midweek. i'm back in ten minutes. danella now with a look at traffic. good morning. good morning. flooding slowing down the rails. first we'll start with the vre.

15-minute delay, fredericksburg train numbers 300 as well as 302. that's your delay. over to the marc, flooding as well slowing down. first the brunswick east train 872. delays, 12 minutes. 11-minute delay on camden south train number 843. now over to the roads. we'll talk about flooding along beach drive. closed between connecticut avenue and kensington parkway. aaron and eun, back to you. >> thank you. right now we're hearing from montgomery county fire department. there are two water rescues going on right now in montgomery county. again, another reminder, do not drive through high water this morning. right after the break, debunking myths about obesity and what really burns calories. and next, the mega deal that could mean the return of twinkies.

[ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. wonder what hostess is going to do about the twinkie? they say they're not going anywhere. the cake giant has accepted a $4 0 million buyout offer. you can expect to see the sweet treats on shelves in the near future. dieters, listen up. this morning we're getting a look at a study in today's "new england journal of medicine" that dispels some myths about obesity and weight loss. among those myths, small change in your diet or exercise can

make a big difference in weight change. researchers say your body actually adapts to small changes. they say it's also a myth that losing a lot of weight quick she worse than losing a little slowly over a long period of time. if you've heard that snacking can make you gain weight, researchers say there is no scientific evidence of that. what if you're snacking on twinges? >> good point. more on downpours and problem spots coming up. tom is talking about our new weather concern this morning. whipping winds. my mom doesn't drink starbucks coffee because she thinks it's too dark, and so i brought her some blonde roast. she loves it now. "my son made me this coffee," "you should try it, it's delicious." ♪

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breaking news in montgomery county. more from the live desk. good morning, we're following breaking news out of brookville in montgomery county, as you mentioned. montgomery county fire rescue attempting a water rescue. take a look, chopper 4 above the scene now. this is the 16800 block of riverle road in montgomery county. no word on how many people are in the car. not sure if we have that chopper video up now. again, montgomery county fire rescue -- there it is, our picture. you see that car in the road there. severe flooding. you see montgomery county fire rescue attempting to figure out how they're going to reach the car. again, no word on how many people are in the car. they are trying to reach the car

and get whoever's in there out of there. again, 16800 block of riffle road. that's the latest. back to you. >> all right. thanks. we have been tracking reports of rescues and flooding all night. the rain was too much for our local creeks and streams. >> news4's derek ward live at one trouble spot in brookville. also in montgomery county. derek? >> reporter: well, we're here at the northern tip of hollings river park. and as you see, this water down here along gold mine road is starting to recede. look at the line of debris. you see where it was. this is where the water washed up to. now it's going back. if you look farther down there, as the water lowers, it's more disturbed by things in the road. gives you a sense of how powerful it is. and if you look beyond there, you see on the bridge a car that got stuck. earlier, montgomery county emergency respond her to perform a rescue. they had to get the drive out. he was on the roof.

they got him out, got him over to the other side of the bridge. that water continued to rise for quite a bit now. under normal circumstances, this stream is about maybe two car length wide. the bridge takes you over it. of course now it is over the top of the bridge. enough water came over that bridge to have that car be actually floating, submerged, and the driver had to be rescued. now the danger of driving through this besides the obvious problem of having your car float away is that you don't know what the road surface, what the water's done to the road surface underneath. something to look out for this morning as you make your commute before the sun comes up. we're live in brookville, derek ward, news4. >> thanks. the big story today is going to be the wind. advisories up into the evening. tom kierein here with the details. yeah, in the wake of that heavy rain that came on through, we have lingering sprinkles now in the eastern shore. and look at the rainfall totals we had. over three inches in frederick county, parts of montgomery county, they got the highest amounts, that's why we've got the water rescues underway as

well as part of fairfax county, northern virginia had almost 2.5 to 3 inches of rain. common amounts there. eastern suburbs, prince george's county about an inch and a half. all these counties in green are under flood warnings for rivers and streams that are out of their banks. that includes montgomery and frederick, loudoun county, fauquier, culpeper, rappahannock, panhandle of west virginia. this is for another few hours. it will take a while for that to recede. look at the winds, the winds are getting blustery. we had a gust to nearly 40 miles per hour over the last couple of hours. temperatures are dropping. the winds are drawing in some cold air for the north and west. now we're dropping into the 40s much of the region. we'll stay in the 40s through the morning all the way through 11:00 a.m. we'll have winds gusting to about 50 miles per hour later this morning and into the afternoon. a look at your afternoon, that's coming up in ten minutes. traffic now, first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. good morning, we're talking about flooding, we're also talking about downed trees. that's what i'm tracking now in

northwest. porter street is closed, this is between connecticut avenue and beach drive because of a downed tree and downed wires. you can use rodman street as an alternate road. let's check back southbound branch avenue in prince george's county. those southbound lanes still blocked. this is between allentown road and kirby road because of a downed tree there. you can use old branch avenue as your work-around. checking the beltway, branch avenue in both directions. volume is increasing. as far as accidents, major delays, inner loop and outer loop clear. as you continue toward the wilson bridge, you see traffic getting by without any issues at all. i'm back in ten minutes. aaron and eun? >> thank you. virginia governor bob mcdonnell's transportation plan faces another legislative test today. the senate finance committee discussing his proposal. the house finance committee signed off on that plan yesterday. the governor wants to raise more than $3 billion over five years for transportation projects. he'd also do that by eliminating the state's gas tax and raising its sales tax. another element of mcdonnell's plan sparking protests today.

hybrid car owners plan to drive to richmond to show their opposition for that proposal. they're upset the governor wants to impose a $100 fee on alternative fuel vehicles. let's check in with tony again on the live desk with breaking news in montgomery county. tony? we're continuing to follow breaking news where montgomery county fire rescue is attempting to rescue a person out of a car. take a look now. moments ago, firefighters just went out to that car. they're returning back now. and i can't really tell. looks like they may have one person with them. looked like just a few seconds ago that they may have pulled that person out of the passenger side of the vehicle. again, this is the 16800 block of riffle ford road, montgomery county fire rescue. looks like rescuing one person out of the passenger side window of the vehicle that was stuck there on that -- on that flooded road. again this morning, we've been dealing with flooded roads all through the region. multiple water rescues. you see that shot from chopper 4 as they try to assess and make sure this person is okay. looks like they are up and walking. and they appear that they may be

okay. again, be careful as you head out this morning. we still have is severe flooding. we're going to continue to stay on all these stories throughout the morning. that's the latest from the live desk. back to you. >> thank you. and scott graham from montgomery county also reporting this morning that there are two other water rescues going on now. in other news, prince george's county is considering transforming communities near green line metro stations. leaders held public meetings last night on plans for new development at the branch avenue station. county planners are considering adding big box stores, office space, high-end apartments, even a brand new high school. there are also plans for southern avenue, naylor road and suitland parkway. the plans will go before the county council if their summer. the anne arundel council working quickly to remove their disgraced executive, john leopold. he's accused of having workers do political and personal favors for him. an acting executive was named.

the council hopes to vote on monday on a bill that would make his ouster official. the county's attorney says a vote before leopold's sentencing is premature. two dictionaries and a thesaurus could get a -- could lead a judge to throw out the voluntary manslaughter conviction of a former culpeper police officer. a court clerk found books in the jury room after the verdict. the panel apparently looked up the definition of "malice "which suggests confusion with jury instructions. daniel harmon-wright claimed he shot patricia ann cook last year when his arm got caught in her suv window when she tried to drive away. the judge will announce tomorrow how the case will proceed. a warning just out about a tax season scam. we'll tell you about the phone call you may be receiving. plus, her riders hoping the lights stay on this morning.

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good morning. we have breaking news from the live desk. a story out of montgomery county, 16800 block of riffle road. a few minutes ago, montgomery county fire rescue got a person out of a vehicle. we got the video from chopper 4. you see two or three rescue personnel getting a person out of the passenger side. looks like the front window there. walking them back. that water looks about to be about knee high. we've been dealing with flooding all morning long. cars going in flooded spots. look at this video. very dramatic. you see the firefighters walking the person back. appears ago. they will probably determine if they need to go to the hospital or not. the 168 h00 block of riffle for road, montgomery county fire rescue working multitelewater rescues this morning. you see there that person was talking with sfiert. that is the latest -- firefighters. that is the latest. back to you. >> and the fire officials keep

saying this morning do not drive through high water. they remind us every time this happens. people inevitably do it anyway. >> you know where the high water spots are. the places that usually flood are probably flooded now or will because water is moving downstream in places. let's look at the forecast for the day ahead. tom? you end up destroying the motor on your car, and that costs thousands of dollars. not worth. it temperatures are dropping. right now, down into the 30s in western maryland. and the shenandoah valley closer to washington, most of northern virginia, into maryland, now in the 40s. that's montgomery county, arlington, fairfax, prince george's, reagan national now at 50 degrees. and all due to the strong winds coming out of the north and west that will be gusting to around 40 to 50 miles per hour the rest of the day. temperatures, here's the temperature scale. they'll be holding steady in the mid to upper 40s through perhaps noontime to early afternoon. then late afternoon, they will plummet. and they'll be all the way down to the low 30s by midday. by then the winds should diminish. we'll have sunshine in and out.

and it's going to be feeling and maybe looking like winter here the next couple of days. your seven-day outlook coming up in ten minutes. coming up now is danella with the latest look at our traffic. good morning. good morning. checking an accident as you travel in maryland, 29 southbound at 198. the crash here does block your left lane. we'll shoot over to gaithersburg and talk about flooding there. this is along gain preserve road. your closure between 355 and clopper road. please use caution. also, westbound lanes of clopper road, they're shut down at firstville because of flooding. we'll head toward the kensington area and talk about beach drive, closures at kensington and connecticut avenue. since we're heading by the beltway, i want to show you normal delays here. you know how it goes from i-95, you are slow to georgia avenue. no accidents, though, on outer loop or inner loop of the beltway, montgomery county. aaron? >> thank you. this morning no reported on metro's green line after a chaotic evening commute.

a firefighter cut power after an insulator started smoking. mistakenly cut power between afton costia and navy -- anacostia and navy yard. some people dean richardsed the trains and try -- ditched the trains and tried to walk. you see chaos as passengers tried to get on shuttle buses. this morning, metro it says may have to review procedures with d.c. fire for responding to its train stations. a metro bus is out of service after a stabbing on board. police say a rider stabbed a man twice in the chest last night. the attacker jumped off when the bus got to 11th and h streets in northeast. the victim is now in the hospital. police are trying to determine if the attacker knew the victim or if the stabbing was random. new information on the chain reaction crash on the beltway in prince george's county. we brought you the breaking news yesterday morning. a prince george's county volunteer firefighter is improving after doctors had to reattach his arm. the fire department says 30-year-old lieutenant ryan emmons is in guarded condition.

police say a fire truck from lanham hills was trying to make a u-turn on the beltway when a tractor-trailer rear-ended it. a jeep was also involved in that crash. the driver and a passenger in the jeep and the driver in the tractor-trailer remain in the hospital. no word on their conditions. three firefighters were treated and released. get ready for a contentious day on capitol hill again. the senate voting on a bill to suspend the nation's debt limit for about four months. that would set up a showdown this spring between democrats and republicans on spending cuts. the house already passed that bill, and president obama has said he will sign it. the treasury warns the government could default on some of its loans as early as next month if this legislation does not pass. also today, chuck hagel will tell a senate committee why he should be the next defense secretary. the senate armed services committee will hold hagel's confirmation hearing. the former republican senator and vietnam war veteran will likely face tough questions, especially about his stands on israel and iran.

he prepared by meeting fraprivay with public interest groups. president obama hopes for some form of immigration reform within six months. in an interviewer with telemundo, he says the plan has to include a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country, and it's time for congress to act. >> we've been working on this for a long time. we know what the issues are. i've got a bill drafted. we've got language. we know what's needed when it comes to border securitiment we know what's need when it comes to dealing with employers who may unlawfully hire undocumented workers. we know what a pathway to citizenship looks like and what the criteria should be. >> the president says republicans and democrats have to come together to resolve this issue. the house and senate are working on separate proposals right now. right now vice president joe biden is preparing for his first

overseas trip of the second term. he will visit germany, france, and the u.k. the vice president's first stop will be at the munich security conference. he spoke at the start of the president's firm test term four years ago. a hostage situation in alabama creeps into the third day. we're awaiting an update from police at any moment. a 63-year-old man boarded a school bus on tuesday after fatally shooting the bus driver. he grabbed a 5-year-old boy and fled the scene. police tracked the man down but say he's been holding the child hostage for more than 30 hours. neighbor of the man describe him as a loner and survivalist who distrusts the government. you can count on news4 for an update as soon as it comes in. a developing story in syria. an israeli air strike killed two and injured five others near the lebanese border. the u.s. says israel targeted a weapons convoy northwest of damascus. the convoy was thought to contain weapons for hezbollah

militants in lebanon. syria says it destroyed a military research center. hezbollah condemns the attack. the u.s. classifies hezbollah as a terrorist group. a scam alert now if you're starting to file your taxes. thieves are using robocalls to target virginia's new way-to-go prepaid mastercard, a refund debit card. customers say the automatic caller tried to get their personal information. virginia's taxation department says it doesn't make automated calls, nor does it solicit personal information that way. a major blow to a local company. livingsocial reports huge losses. cnbc's jackie deangelis is live with that. good morning. the public's fascination with local online coupons and daily deals may be fading of livingsocial, the site based in d.c., reported a $650 million net loss last year. the company was initially known for its rapid expansion, but it's cut back in recent months. now it shut some overseas operations, written down the

value of others, and laid off 10% of its work force. young internet companies can take years before they become profitable. livingsocial reportedly expects to turn a profit sometime this spring. amazon owns 30% of the company. back to you. >> thank you. breaking news now. there is no threat of a tsunami following an earthquake off the coast of southern alaska. it was a 6.0-magnitude earthquake, hit little more than an hour ago there. no reports of injury or damage this hour. the story for us is flooding. for our neighbors to the south, it is damage caused by more than a dozen tornadoes. eight states saw twisters touch down as the storm raked across the region. one man was killed by a falling tree in tennessee. another died during this tornado that was caught on video in adaresville, georgia. it also tore apart dozens of homes, flattened a manufacturing plant, as well. more than 100 cars also flipped on interstate 75 in georgia.

6:49. we have more breaking news from the live desk. another water rescue in montgomery county? >> yeah, it's been a very busy morning for montgomery county water rescue team. we want to go chopper 4 and look t pictures now. firefighters actually just got to the car within the last 15 seconds. this one happened on brighton dam road in new hampshire. also in the brookville area. now guys, this is the third water rescue this morning for montgomery county fire rescue. very busy morning as folks try to drive through these flooded areas. you can see this picture, firefighters right now talking to the person in that car. lights in the car still on. this is brighton dam road in new hampshire. water seems to be knee deep there. they'll get that person hopefully out of the car and back on to dry land. as we've been mentioning all morning, we have we have severe flooding that has caused some issues to be -- we don't want you driving through this basically is what it is. i mean, you know what they say, turn around, don't drown. you don't want to end up like

this person. you see firefighters trying to get the person out of the car. they have a rope. it looks like they are just now getting him out. they have the rope attached to him to make sure that they are attached to their crew so they don't end up in any issue, as well. but gosh, we're continuing to follow these stories all morning long. again, this is the third water rescue for montgomery county fire rescue this morning. it's been a very busy morning for them as folks throughout the region head to work and school. trying to get through these flooded areas. we'll continue to stay on this throughout the day. guys, back to you. >> tony, thanks for that update. and you can see from the live picture the rescue crews are right there in the driver's seat of that vehicle that is stuck in the high water. it looks like they're trying to get the passenger or driver out of the vehicle. they have ropes attached to make sure the rescue crews are safe, as well. >> the warning from the montgomery county fire department, from loudoun county, from all across the region is if you see high water, don't go into it. if there's an area where you typically see high water after

significant rainfall, don't go into that area because like you see here, it's dark and the water is likely higher than your car can handle, even suvs get stuck in this kind of water. >> that's right. looks like another successful rescue for montgomery county fire rescue. let's check the forecast, meteorologist tom kierein. >> seeing it along at night, you can be driving 40, 45, and awed of a sudden you don't have a chance to stop and you surge into the water, destroying your motor and getting stranded. we'll have the high water with us here for another couple of hours. even though we've cleared out, there's the sky over the potomac river. the rain has ended, sky is clearing out. right now, reagan national airport in the foreground is at 50 degrees. wind northwest at 15. gusting to as high as 30 to 4 miles per hour. and the -- yes, we have to talk about windchills because the temperatures are getting colder. the last of the rain is now on the eastern shore. these are the rainfall totals coming in, observers reporting

the highest amounts in montgomery county were about three inches. that all came in a short amount of time. it quickly funneled into creeks and streams. 3.3 inches in frederick county, maryland. nearly three inches parts of loudoun county. and across much of northern virginia, arlington, fairfax into prince william and fauquier county, anywhere from an inch and a half to 2.5 inches of rain. prince george's county, an inch and a half. about 1.2 fell in the district. all these counties in green, flood warnings for rivers and streams out of their banks, montgomery, frederick, loudoun county, fauquier, the rest of northern virginia, including rappahannock and culpeper. latest wind gusts are up around 30 miles per hour. they'll decrease in another hour or so. we'll have gusts to near 50. these areas in color, northern virginia, the district, maryland, until 6:00 p.m. we'll have gusts to near 50 miles per hour. temperatures right now dropping into the 40s. and we're going to hold steady in the 40s through the rest of the daylight hours. then plummeting to the 30s tonight. and then the 20s by dawn tomorrow. might have flurries tomorrow

morning. it will feel like winter. maybe a few snow showers putting down a quick dusting and look like winter. we may get it again late saturday into sunday morning. cold monday, warmer midweek. danella here with traffic. good morning. good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, we're checking flooding and seeing how it is affecting the fredericksburg line of the vre. seeing delays on train number 300. your delay is 20 minutes. expect delays along the fredericksburg line. an update on the downed tree between allentown and kirby roads. now the left lane will get you by. just a moment ago, all your lanes were blocked. still seeing all the lanes blocked northwest along porter between connecticut avenue and beach drive. downed tree along with downed wires blocking all of your lanes in the area. you can use rodman street as an alternate route for you. now an update, 29 southbound in maryland at 198, crash here has the left lane blocked. i got to show you what 216 looks

like. traveling southbound, you are jammed at 216, slowly making your way toward 198. aaron and eun, over to you. >> thank you. if you've been watching this morning, you've seen all the rescues we've been bringing you. creeks and rivers around the region have crested their banks, leading to pretty significant high water rescues and multiple streets closed around the region. right now we'll get a check in virginia. megan mcgrath is in bristow where high water is keeping commuters from reaching a vre station. megan? >> reporter: we're actually standing on piper lane in bristow which you can see is completely under water. this is broad run creek. right next to it, normally it runs parallel. but as you see with all of the rain that we've had, the creek has left its banks and completely washed out piper lane. now this is the way a lot of folks get to the vre station. the broad run vre station. as you see, you're not going to get there by using this road today. completely washed out, and in fact the water is still rising. we've been here for about 45 minutes. we've seen the water come up

about ten inches or so. in fact, we'll have to move our live truck after we speak to you here this morning. and we'll get further back because, again, the creek is rising. we are seeing the water level on this road rise. now if you are using the vre station this morning, the broad run station, it is still open. we're told that service is not affected. but you're going to have to take the other entrance. you'll have to weave around and take the observation road entrance. you're not going to be able to get there from here. and as you see from just how swollen this creek is, it's going to be quite some time before this road reopens. reporting live in bristow, megan mcgrath, news4. >> all right. thank you. and we're going to be watching the situation with the rescues going on due to the high water and flooding throughout our region. and here's another live look at the water rescue that was just going on. this is? germantown, maryland. rescue crews in montgomery county have been so busy they've responded to three different water rescues. >> all right. let's get a last check with

tom. >> the wind is the next weather issue today. we could have winds gusting to 50 miles per hour that may cause scattered power outages. we'll drop down to the 30s tonight. the 20s tomorrow morning. maybe morning snow showers on friday. cold weekend to follow. danella, how's traffic now? tracking a new accident on gw parkway, southbound at 123. it is blocking your left lane, and it does involve three cars. back to you both. >> thank you. that is "news4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic, and